Harry Potter and the Link to Life
by Lord Perth
Summary: Lily potter made what she thought was a reasonable decision to protect her son, Only now are all the consequences known.
1. Chapter 1

**Harry Potter and the Link to Life**

A/N: Thanks to Treck and Nedlin for checking these stories for me.

**July 31, 1980**

As with all new mothers, Lily Evans-Potter felt a special connection between herself and her newborn child, Harry James Potter. She and her husband James had just gone into hiding at their house in Godric's Hollow.

Due to the secrecy involved in their location their healer was none other than Madam Pomfrey, whom Dumbledore allowed access to their location to deliver young Harry while still maintaining their cover.

Due to the unusual circumstances surrounding their newborn son, the Potter's, mainly Lily, requested Albus Dumbledore to be present at his birth. Albus remained in the living room while the baby was being born and only arrived to great the family after both the baby and the mother were cleaned up.

"Albus, I have a request of you." Lily said.

"What can I do for you, my dear?"

"I want you to create a bond between myself and my son. I want to be able to make sure that he is always safe."

"You do realize the possible negative effects this could have as well, don't you?"

"James and I have talked this through and we both agree that the benefits far outweigh the risks." Lily exclaimed.

"If this is your wish, then I will grant it."

"It is."

"Ok, Lily. I need you to hold onto Harry." Lily reached over to her husband and he quietly handed his son to his wife.

Dumbledore withdrew his wand and pointed it at Lily's temple and started to chant in Latin. Neither Lily nor James were able to understand what he was saying but both witnessed the flash of white light the connected with Lily's temple and the beam that left her head and entered Harry's.

"The bond is complete. I wish you both the best of luck and offer my congratulations on the newest addition to your family. I will be in touch with you soon."

Section Break

**October 31, 1981**

"Step aside foolish woman." Hissed a cold and angry voice.

"No, you can't kill him. Please not Harry." Lily cried.

"I will kill you if you don't get out of my way."

"Please not Harry."

"_Avada Kedavra_!"

Voldemort was to busy in his task to notice the white light that emitted from Lily Potter's body after she fell to the floor lifeless. Nor did he notice the increasingly loud screaming of his next target.

"So you are the one who is supposed to defeat me?" He laughed maniacally.

"Tonight will mark my unhindered ascension to power. _Avada Kedavra!_"

Lord Voldemort watched with a sick sense of satisfaction and the green light flew towards his target. Just as the light impacted and should have killed the child, a blinding white light erupted from him and forced the green light back towards Voldemort.

As both the white light and green light impacted with Voldemort, Harry lost consciousness.

Section Break

**July 1, 1996**

Lord Voldemort sat alone in his study pouring over all of the books he had at his disposal. He had to find a way to separate the link between himself and the Potter brat. He knew that, while the link had its uses, it was also the reason that the boy was able to force him out of his mind and body when he tried to possess the boy.

He had sent what few death eaters he had left to scour the country for any books they could find about magical bonds. He was willing to put off all of his other plans and focus mainly on severing the link.

He was beginning to grow frustrated with his lack of success in locating a solution. He had been searching the books for days and still nothing had presented itself as a workable solution.

_Until now._

"Wormtail!"

He paused in his thoughts as he waited for the sorry excuse of a servant to enter his study.

"Y-Y-Yes, my lord?"

"I need you to go to Hogwarts and fetch Severus. Give him this list of ingredients and tell him to brink everything he will need for a month's stay here." Voldemort hissed as he handed the book to Wormtail.

"W-W-What about the old man?"

"Tell Severus to be creative."

"Y-Yes my lord."

Section Break

Harry Potter woke up with a start from the first nightmare he had received since returning to Privet Drive. He couldn't remember any details of the dream. He only remembered that a potion was needed for something and that _Snape _was going to make it. Resigning to the fact that he wouldn't be getting any more sleep that night he crawled out of bed and sat at his beat up excuse for a desk. He pulled out a small book and opened it up to the first page.

He hadn't done anything like this since his third year at Hogwarts, and even then it was all made up. He had decided to keep a dream journal in case he ever had a dream of any importance. Since this was the first non-standard nightmare he had all summer, it would be the first entry into his journal. He wrote down as much as he could remember before gathering his clothes and heading into the shower.

It was almost 5:00 a.m. before he finished in the shower and was ready to go for the day. The Dursleys pretty much left him alone and didn't ask anything of him, other than to limit as much contact as possible with their family.

This was something that he happily agreed to and, in turn, had taken up running every morning. He would wake up before all of them and going running to the park. He knew they would never feed him anything and in an attempt to stay away from them for even longer each day, he had sent Hedwig to Gringotts' with a note to get some muggle money. He only hoped that she wouldn't be intercepted and lose all of the money.

Hedwig had returned the second day of his stay at Privet Drive and dropped off the requested one thousand pounds. He sent her back out later that day with some money and a note to Eyelops' so she could pick up a bag of owl treats.

After his morning run through the park he headed over to a small diner about a mile away from Privet Drive. Since his reputation was only known on Privet Drive, he was welcomed into the diner just like everybody else.

He spent most of his day in the diner talking to his favorite waitress Sherry. She was an older lady, in her mid fifties, that was there almost everyday. She worked a ten hour shift five days a week. Even though it was more than most, she explained that she had to pay for two of her kids to get through college and the extra money helped.

The weekends he usually spent talking to another waitress named Helen. She was in her mid-twenties and was paying her way through college. She only worked on the weekends for a little bit of extra money. Her main job was working at the art school she attended.

All-in-all he couldn't complain about how his summer was going. He still missed Sirius, but it wasn't as bad as he though it would be. Tonks had started writing to him at the beginning of break. She said that she felt they had something in common.

He couldn't help but agree. He also wanted to talk to Moony, but apparently Dumbledore sent him on some sort of a mission for the Order to keep his mind off of Sirius' death. So he had taken to writing letters with Tonks.

In her last letter she said that she would visit him when she could, but she didn't think he would be at Privet Drive much longer this year.

In the letter he had sent the previous day, he gave Tonks directions to the diner where he spent most of his days. He had already explained his situation with the Dursleys and she understood the need for him to get away from them for a while.

"Do you want you're usual, Hon?"

"Sure thing, Sherry. How's April and Ben?"

"Their fine. Spending every last penny I send them though. Some day they're going to have to get their own jobs."

"Maybe you should tell them about Helen. They might appreciate money a little more if they knew how hard most people have to work to get it."

"Maybe. I'll be right back with your breakfast."

"Wotcher Harry." A voice whispered right into his ear.

Harry couldn't help his reflexes and jump forward as he tried to get out of the booth, effectively slamming his shin into the table.

"You're acting like me now? I knew you liked me but you don't have to copy everything I do." Tonks laughed.

"Shut it, Tonks."

"Nice to see you too, lover boy."

"Hi," he grumbled.

"Oh cheer up sport. Got room at that table for me?"

"I don't know, Nymph. Come over here and find out." He shot back cheekily.

"You're lucky there's muggles around here or I would show you what a fully trained Auror can do to a smartass."

"Nymph, I'm hurt."

"Call me Nymph one more time and I will ignore the fact that there are muggles here."

"I'd say were even now. You should know not to pick on somebody that has Marauder blood flowing through their veins."

"Fair enough. Scoot over." She said as she slid into the booth next to him.

"Why didn't you just sit on the other side?"

"Because I didn't feel like it. I also want to see what reaction I get out of that young lady that's sitting over there watching everything you do."

"What young lady?" He asked.

Tonks pointed out a pretty blonde woman in her late teens.

"Oh, her." He said in a tone that proved to Tonks that he could care less what she thought of him.

"What happened?"

"I've been coming here for a week now and for the first day or two she left me alone. It appears she spends most of the time during the day here too and wanted to 'get to know me' better."

"So? That's a good thing. Have a little fun in your life."

"It wasn't bad at first. She and I talked a lot and then two days ago as we were getting ready to leave, she kissed me."

"I still fail to see the problem here, lover boy."

"The next day when she showed up she told me she has a boyfriend and that she couldn't talk to me anymore."

"Oh. I'm sorry" Tonks said looking a little disheartened.

"Why? You didn't do anything wrong. I don't even really care. It's not like it ever could have gone anywhere. Once I leave here, more than likely, I won't ever be coming back."

"Enough of this depressing stuff. Want to go for a walk?"

"Can I at least eat my breakfast first?" He asked with a grin.

"Oh yeah. I forgot."

Harry ate his breakfast as quickly as possible. He had some help from Tonks who kept stealing the bacon off the side of his plate. He pretended not to notice but couldn't help the snigger that escaped when one the pieces fell on her shirt and stained it with grease.

"Oh bugger. I always do that." Tonks groaned

"Such a dirty mouth on a pretty young lady."

"Oh stuff it, Harry. Hurry up so we can go. I need to find an alley so I can fix this mess."

"Yes ma'am." Harry exclaimed in a false military voice while trying to keep his face straight.

Section Break

"Turn around, Harry." Tonks ordered as they entered a side alley close to the diner.

"Why should I?" He retorted.

"Because I am going to take off my shirt so I can aim my wand at it properly, and I don't want to give you a show."

"What if I want to see the show anyway?"

"When did you become such a flirt, Mr. Potter?"

"Yesterday, today, what does it matter?"

"Whatever! Just turn around and make sure nobody looks back here."

"Fine."

"Tonks?" He called over his shoulder?

"What?"

"I have a serious question to ask you."

"Shoot." She said as she finished the spell and slipped the shirt back on.

"I don't want you to take this the wrong way, but what makes you clumsy?"

"I should be insulted by that question…but I'm not. I guess, it boils down to the fact that I am a metamorphmagus."

"Why would that make you clumsy?"

"Because, Harry, I am always changing my form. My body never has the chance to become accustomed to my current form's center of balance. The result is that I can't balance correctly and I trip and fall a lot."

"Oh. I guess that makes sense. What do you want to do today?"

"I thought we already decided on a walk."

"If that's what you want to do…by all means, lead the way, fair lady." He said with a mock bow and butler voice.

"Why thank you, kind sir."

Section Break

**July 26, 1996**

Harry was getting all of his things packed up for his trip to Grimmauld Place. He wasn't sure that he was really ready to head back to the house of his late godfather but he took comfort in the fact that Tonks would be there.

Over the last month they had become really good friends and talked together almost everyday. On her days off, which didn't happen often, she would come and visit with him and whenever she couldn't; they managed to talk anyways.

Since letters were still unsafe to send, Harry had told Tonks about the mirror that Sirius had given to him as a gift. He told her that Sirius had the other mirror somewhere at Grimmauld Place. She had searched all through his room and finally found it at the bottom of his sock drawer.

Harry took out the pieces of his broken mirror and Tonks repaired it, with some help from Professor Flitwick, whom she had to learn the charm from.

Once the mirror was fixed, they talked every night. Tonks was never able to inform him of what was happening in the Order, but she did tell him that she had made a new friend while staying at Grimmauld Place that summer.

Tonks refused to give any information about her new friend other than to say, "You know this person and I think you might be surprised when you see them again."

He was truly grateful for the friendship that he had formed with Tonks and knew that if she liked the person then he probably would like them too.

His only reservation about the friendship he had with Tonks was that she was a very attractive older woman. He couldn't help but notice her looks matched her personality and that he liked what he saw. He tried to act as nonchalant as possible when he was around her but it was getting a bit more difficult.

He couldn't help but smile slightly as he remembered the one time that summer he almost lost his composure, and it was only that morning.

After seeing Harry sitting with Tonks a few times at the diner, the nameless Blondie, as Tonks called her, brought in her supposed boyfriend. It was obviously a move to try and make Harry jealous but he couldn't care less…apparently Tonks _did_ care and thought it was hitting below the belt.

That morning when she arrived to escort Harry to Grimmauld Place, she met him at the diner one last time.

Nameless Blondie was there with her 'hideously ugly' boyfriend, another description courtesy of Tonks. Tonks leaned into Harry and whispered to him to play along and of course, being Harry, he had no clue what was about to happen.

Out of the blue, Tonks leaned over and captured his lips in what felt like a death grip. She proceeded to snog him senseless right there in the diner in front of everybody. Nameless Blondie was heard huffing as she drug her boyfriend out of the diner amidst his protests at not being able to finish his food.

"What was that all about?"

"She tried to make you jealous but you didn't fold. Women don't like that, but they still consider it a success because they have somebody and you don't. I took that away from her and obviously made her jealous in the process." She finished with a smirk

"And I thought Voldemort was evil." He muttered.

"Women are the epitome of evil and the sooner you learn that the better off you'll be."

"Thanks for the warning."

"No problem. Hurry up. We need to get moving. You haven't even packed yet and we need to get a move on."

Section Break

"Are you ready yet?" He snapped out of his 'pleasant' memories when he heard Tonks yell from downstairs.

"Yes!" He yelled back as he started to lug his truck towards the staircase.

"Grab hold of this. It will activate as soon as both of us are touching it."

He reached out to grab the coat hanger and felt the now familiar pull behind the navel as the portkey activated.

They landed in a heap on the sitting room floor of Grimmauld Place. Harry untangled himself from Tonks and stood up.

He held his hand out to help Tonks up and she gratefully accepted it.

"Thanks Harry."

"No problem Tonks. So, when do I get to meet this new mystery friend of yours?" He asked. Tonks only smiled as she saw her new friend walk into the room.

"'Arry?" He whirled around to face the source of the new voice.

"Fleur?"


	2. Chapter 2

A/N: Thanks to Treck and Nedlin for checking these stories for me.

**Chapter 2: Getting Re-acquainted **

"Eet is good to zee you again, 'Arry." Fleur said as she walked over and pulled him into a hug.

"What are you doing here Fleur?" Harry asked, with all the tact of a first year, as she pulled back from the hug.

Tonks frowned and smacked the backside of Harry's head. "That was rude Harry."

Fleur smiled at her new friend. "Eet is okay Tonks. 'Arry never was very good wiz ze ladies."

Harry blushed but did not refute the statement. However, Tonks had no qualms with embarrassing Harry even further. "You're not kidding. He's not even that great of a kisser." She said with a wink to Fleur.

Fleur however wasn't paying attention to the wink. "'ou know 'ow ee keeses?" She asked, raising an eyebrow at her new friend.

Tonks turned as red as Harry and started spluttering an answer.

Harry somehow regained control over his embarrassment and answered Fleur. He explained the whole situation about Nameless Blondie.

"…And she drug her 'boyfriend' away." Harry finished.

"Zat make zense. Women always try to outdo eachozer." Fleur said flippantly. "Zough it doesn't explain why 'oo are not a good keeser."

Harry mumbled something that neither girl could hear. "What was that Harry?" Tonks asked.

Harry sighed, "I said, it's a little hard to be good at something you have only done twice before.

"You've only kissed two girls?" Tonks asked incredulously.

"To be precise, _I _haven't kissed anyone. Two girls have kissed me and neither one has ever come back for a repeat performance."

"Nobody wants to kiss the great boy-who-lived?" Tonks asked while Fleur stayed silent in the background.

"I'm sure that there are a lot of girls that want to kiss the boy-who-lived. Nobody wants to kiss Harry Potter. Believe me when I say that there is a difference."

Neither Fleur nor Tonks had anything to say to that comment. They were silently agreeing with him about how hard it was to never know if somebody was dating you for you or what you can do.

Tonks broke the silence first. "I'm going to levitate your stuff up to your new room ok, Harry?"

"Thanks Tonks. I should start getting unpacked and then we can spend some more time talking." He followed Tonks out of the room which left Fleur by herself.

Section Break

Fleur Delacour had been at Grimmauld Place for a month. She had been inducted into the Order of the Phoenix at the end of the previous school year. She had been working at Gringotts at the beginning of last year and had moved into a one room flat in muggle London. The only reason she had taken the job was because she wanted to move to England permanently and her English needed improving. Gringotts offered her a job as an assistant to the curse breakers.

She had met Bill Weasley shortly after she started her new job and vaguely remembered him from the tri-wizard tournament. He was the redhead that visited with Harry before the third task. Bill had taken a fancy to her and tried his best to get Fleur to go on a date with him. With all the ease of a natural veela, she was able to brush off his advances. They had become somewhat good friends over the first few months she stayed there and it was obvious to her that Bill still hoped for more than a friendship with her.

Since she didn't plan on being a curse breaker's assistant all of her life, Fleur had started taking night classes at St. Mungo's to become an intern healer. She would have to take classes for nine months and then she would start her internship with an accomplished healer. She poured everything she had into her job and her night classes over the next several months and successfully managed to avoid Bill's advances with excuses of too much work to do in the evenings.

A month and a half ago she was finally finished with her healer training and needed to find a healer to accept her as an apprentice. Bill saw this as his opening to be the knight in shining armor. He approached her as he overheard her conversation with Megan, who had also been an assistant to the curse breakers and had become her only true friend since she left Beauxbatons. Bill had suggested that he could introduce her to a healer that may be looking to take on an apprentice. He thought that with the war picking up that she would be needing the extra help.

This was how she came into knowledge of the Order of the Phoenix. Bill re-introduced her to Professor Dumbledore and explained her situation for her. It was this set of actions that made her start to actually dislike Bill. Up until then he had respected her and treated her sincerely. Now, he seemed to be taking control of what should have been her interview with a healer. She was nineteen years old and perfectly capable of discussing her situation with the headmaster on her own. She hated being treated inferior and, more than anything else, hated when a man tried to take control of situations they had no business being involved with.

Professor Dumbledore seemed to sense what was bothering her because he soon dismissed Bill and floo called Madam Pomfrey, asking her to come to his office.

The interview, from that point, went very well. Madam Pomfrey told her that she could start her training at the beginning of August and would be able to help out at the school starting on the first of September.

Madam Pomfrey was slightly worried about how heavy her accent was even after living in London for almost a year; so she told Fleur that she knew of a spell that would help and make the accent almost completely disappear. Poppy (she had told Fleur to call her Poppy when there were no patients around) had still not been able to find the book she saw the spell in. She desperately hoped that she would find it soon since it was obvious that her accent was hindering her somewhat.

Fleur had moved out of her flat and into the Headquarters for the Order of the Phoenix at the beginning of the month. Professor Dumbledore had wanted to make sure that she was in a safe location. He told her something about becoming a possible target if word came out that she knew of the Order.

She didn't mind in the least and at the end of the month, when her lease was up, she moved out of her flat and into Grimmauld Place. She had met Tonks on her first night there and took an immediate liking to the pink haired metamorphmagus. She was secretly glad that there was another woman around her age that she could talk too.

The more time she spent with Tonks the closer they became. Tonks would disappear for hours at time and never tell her where she going. She would also disappear at night for periods of time too but she would never say what it was she was doing. Fleur thought that she may have had a secret boyfriend and was spending time with him whenever she could.

She confronted Tonks about her theory a few days ago and Tonks only laughed at her. She learned how similar she was to Tonks that day. Apparently Tonks never had a serious relationship before and it didn't appear as though she ever would. Tonks told her that 'the guys only look at me and see someone who can become their dreams and never see me for the person that I really am.'

It was so similar to the way she felt about her own personal life that it wasn't even funny. She confided in Tonks about her life as well and both were somewhat shocked to learn that Bill was trying to get both of them at the same time.

Needless to say she was a little shocked to learn that her friend had been disappearing all of this time to meet up with Harry Potter. She could see the infatuation Harry had with her friend. It was obvious to her, but she could also tell that Tonks didn't catch on to any of it. She would have to think about how she could approach her friend about this. She didn't think that Harry was the kind of person that would make Tonks change for him but she also didn't know whether Harry actually liked her or if it was just lust that she saw in his eyes.

Section Break

"Why didn't you tell me who your friend was?"

"I wanted it to be a surprise. Obviously it worked based on your reaction." She giggled.

"Since when do you giggle?"

"I didn't giggle."

"Yes you did." Harry argued.

"Did not."

"Too."

"Not."

"Too."

"Too."

"Exactly my point." Harry yelled triumphantly.

Tonks pouted. "That wasn't supposed to backfire."

"Maybe sweetie but then again you shouldn't try and trick me. I have a few surprises up my sleeves too you know."

"Yeah, yeah, whatever."

"Oh come on. Cheer up Tonksy."

"Would you please stop coming up with new names for me?"

Harry looked thoughtful for a second before he plastered a cheesy grin on his face. "No." He said cheerfully.

Tonks groaned and shook her head in frustration.

"How long have you known Fleur?" He asked.

"Since she moved in and was inducted into the Order a month and a half ago."

"Oh. Ok."

"You seemed a bit shocked to see her."

"Well, I never thought she would come back here. I knew she got a job at Gringotts but I only go there once a year so the chances of ever seeing her after the tournament were next to nothing."

Tonks sighed. "I think the two of you will get along well. She seems to shy away from guys, but not you."

"What do you mean?"

She frowned, "Nothing. It's not my place to say it. Just be nice to her. She could use some more friends." Tonks said and headed for the door.

"Finish unpacking and then meet us down in the kitchen." Tonks called through the door as it swung shut behind her.

Section Break

Tonks walked into the kitchen and was only slightly surprised to see Madam Pomfrey sitting at the table talking to Fleur. Normally she wouldn't be surprised at all since this had been a common occurrence over the last month. Madam Pomfrey would often stop by to drop off a book or something to help Fleur along in her reading before she would actually begin the internship.

No, what surprised her was the fact that Fleur was talking in a perfect English accent. It was almost like she had been born in England and lived there her whole life.

Fleur looked up from her conversation and saw Tonks standing there with a somewhat dumbfound expression plastered on her face.

"Do you like it?" She asked, as if changing your accent was something as common as changing into a new dress.

Tonks smiled at, who she now considered, her best friend. "It makes it a bit easier to understand you." She said, "Wotcher Poppy."

"Hello Ms. Tonks. How are you this afternoon?"

"Fine. Just getting Harry situated in upstairs."

"Oh. He's here already?" It was more of a statement than a question.

"Yeah. We portkeyed in an hour ago. Just by for your weekly chat with little miss perfect over here?" Tonks asked.

Fleur scowled. "Don't call me that Nymphy." She huffed.

"What is it with people and name calling lately?" Tonks asked.

"You started it."

"Did not."

"Did too."

"Children stop it." Madam Pomfrey cut in. Fleur stuck her tongue out at Tonks behind Madam Pomfrey's back and Tonks forgot all about their argument and started laughing at their antics.

The older matron sighed and excused herself. She was getting too old to play the games these young children seemed to enjoy. She just wanted to get back to her house and have a quite dinner with her husband.


	3. Chapter 3

A/N: Thanks to Treck and Nedlin for checking these stories for me.

**Chapter 3: The Breaking of the Bond**

Harry finished unpacking all of his clothes and headed down to the kitchen to grab something to snack on as well as meet up with Tonks and Fleur. He was surprised to see Madam Pomfrey stand up and apparate away just as he was walking into the room. He had never seen her outside of Hogwarts before but realized that it was highly unlikely that she lived there year round.

"Well it seems that I get to eat lunch with a Nymph and a flower today. How nice!" Harry clapped his hands in mock excitement while throwing a grin at both young women.

"Watch it Romeo, any more name calling today and you wont like the reactions." Tonks growled.

"What's the matter? Tonksy not get enough rest today?" He asked her like a mother questioning her child.

Fleur let out a gasp as she heard her friend really growl and change her appearance to a leaner and muscular form and making both her hair and eyes pitch black.

"I warned you midget." Tonks screamed and leapt across the table while tackling Harry to the ground.

Harry yelped in surprise and mild pain as she made contact with him but was able to get his balance back before her and started to run. Tonks got up after him and took out her wand casting minor, but irritating, curses in his general direction. Most of them were first and second year charms such as the tickling charm and jelly legs jinx. The only one she took careful aim with was a constipation hex that she had read in one of her mother's old textbooks. It was different than one would think since it made the victim feel like they had to go almost immediately but could never get anything out.

The hex hit Harry in the back and he immediately stopped running around the table. Fleur watched in fascination as he stood stock still and had a fine layer of perspiration building on his forehead. Suddenly he took off out of the room as fast as he could and shot a nasty glare at Tonks on the way out.

"What was the curse that hit him?" Fleur asked.

"A modified constipation hex." Tonks answered smugly. "One of my mother's friends made it in Hogwarts for my mum to use on my aunts."

"Poor Harry."

"He deserved everything he got. Little shit." Tonks rebuked.

"But still……he was only teasing."

"I know. That's why I only used those charms and hexes. If I really took offense, trust me, he would have known it." She finished with a grin.

The rest of the night saw Tonks and Fleur having girl talk while a few of the Order members popped in and out with status reports. Harry was not seen the rest of the night.

The next four days passed fairly quickly as far as Harry was concerned. The constipation hex wore off about 11:00 that night but he just went into his room and fell asleep, vowing revenge on Tonks but noting to himself not to piss her off too much either.

The two young women incorporated Harry into their leisure time fairly easily. With Tonks not running of to talk to or visit with Harry everyday it also left them more time together as a group.

It took Fleur some time but she eventually started to open up a bit more to Harry and told him what she had been up to since the tournament as well as how she became a member of the order.

The two women would sneak off at times during the day and Harry was never able to find them. He had a sneaking suspicion that they had left the house during this time and just never told him about it. He tried to ask them about it but they would tell him to mind his own business and keep quiet.

It was now Harry's birthday and the two of them had disappeared again. Taking a quick sniff of his 'pits' and determining that he was clean enough he scratched off B.O. as a reason for their frequent disappearances.

He didn't mind too much that they disappeared. This had been one of the best summers he had ever had, but he still had to take some time for himself. It was usually during these times that his mind drifted to Sirius and the war.

Section Break

Severus Snape was beside himself with glee. Tonight the potion he had been working on for his master would be complete and he would be proud to be a part of the destruction of the famous Harry Potter.

He had loathed Potter every bit as much as his father and relished in the fact that he would bring about his undoing as well as take his master one step closer to immortality and world domination.

The death of Harry Potter would be very painful and drawn out over the span of about two hours. He fully intended to be back at Headquarters to witness the last moments as long as he was approved to leave.

Section Break

"Wormtail!" Voldemort yelled. He waited in amusement as he watched the little rodent of a man scurry into the room.

"Roll up your sleeve Wormtail." Peter cowered away slightly before doing as he was told. Voldemort reached out a bony white finger and pressed it to the Dark Mark causing a searing pain to shoot through it and out to every one of his followers. He would have them gather now and make a spectacle out of the destruction of the Boy-Who-Wouldn't-Die.

Section Break

Harry was really depressed now. He hadn't seen anyone all day except in passing and no one had bothered to hint that they remembered it was his birthday. He hid his disappointment well since he had never received any special attention before on his birthday, but he thought that with his new friends that things might be different.

It was almost dinner time and he decided to head on down to the kitchen to see if Mrs. Weasley was stopping by to at least serve some dinner. He met Tonks half way down the stairs and bumped into her causing them both to fall down.

Harry regained his footing first and helped Tonks to her feet. "Wotcher Tonks."

"Heya Harry. Just going up to get you." She said cheerfully.

"So now you have time for me?" Harry mumbled to himself though it was apparent Tonks heard him.

"And what's that supposed to mean, Mr. Potter," she asked?

"Nothing Tonks. I'm hungry." Tonks looked unconvinced but shrugged it off anyways.

"Mrs. Weasley dropped by to give us all something to eat for tonight. Hope you're as hungry as you say you are." She said while pushing the door open.

"Surprise!"

Harry was completely taken off guard. Tonks gave him a shove, causing him to glare in her general direction, which was hard considering he was being mobbed by red heads.

Most of the Order was present for the evening's festivities with three exceptions. Hagrid and Remus were apparently off on a mission for the Order and, of course, Professor Snape was nowhere to be seen.

Harry didn't really mind that Snape was gone but he missed Remus and Hagrid, having not seen them since the end of the school year nearly a month and a half ago.

Tonks strolled up to Harry with Fleur by her side. "Bet you feel like an ass now, don't ya?" She jabbed him in his chest with her finger.

Dinner followed the brief greetings and everyone began chatting again soon.

"Don't poke me with that. I don't know where it's been." He shot back at her dodging the hand aiming to cuff him in the back of his head. "But you're right. I'm sorry. I've had a bit of a headache today and it's made me irritable.

"He's happy today and I don't know why."

Neither woman had to ask who HE was. "Have you told Professor Dumbledore?" Fleur asked.

"No...Hey, what happened to your accent?"

"Madam Pomfrey found a spell that will make me sound, 'English'. I have to renew it every morning but it has been quite helpful. I'm surprised you hadn't noticed before."

"Sorry, my minds been a bit cluttered. I….Awwh!"

"Harry! Are you ok?" "Are you alright?" Tonks and Fleur asked in unison.

Harry struggled to regain control of his breathing before answering them. He noticed he had successfully gained the attention of everyone in the room by this point.

"Fine. He was REALLY happy about something." Harry muttered, shooting a sideways glance at Dumbledore. The old man remained as passive as ever.

"Come and sit, Harry. You still have to open your presents."

Harry obliged and followed Fleur to the table where she and Tonks took up seats at his sides and handed him his presents.

Harry made quite the haul in terms of gifts. Almost everyone in attendance had given him something. The only exception being Dung and The Weasleys. Dung because he was more worried about stealing from others than giving to them and the Weasleys because they all pooled their money to get him one, more expensive, gift.

Harry's headache never completely went away it was obvious that the two women knew this. They kept throwing worried glances at him and he would just smile reassuringly at them. He was no stranger to pain and he knew from experience that the pain would go away eventually. Soon the room was cleared and only the current residents of Grimmauld Place remained, as well as Professor Dumbledore.

Harry approached Dumbledore and told him of the dreams that he had at the beginning of the summer. He wasn't able to recall any details, only that Snape was summoned and the Dark Lord was happy. Dumbledore didn't seem at all concerned and simply thanked Harry for the information before he too set off for the night.

"I'm glad you told him. It's important that you tell him these things. He will know what to do with the information." Tonks reassured Harry as the two were sitting in the living room with Fleur. "I know the two of you don't see eye-to-eye on a lot of things right now, but his experience in these things surpasses everyone in the Order combined."

"That may be Tonks, but he's still human and he can make mistakes." He stopped off as his scar gave a particularly violent throb before he fell to his knees with the intensity of the pain. He was whimpering and curling his body into the fetal position in an attempt to stifle the pain coursing through, not just his scar, but his entire head.

Both women watched in silent horror as Harry convulsed in pain on the ground before them. He had his head in his hand and they could both see a small dribble of blood flowing from the corner of his mouth.

Suddenly his scar burst open splattering blood on the floor and their shoes before a sickly green light emanated from the cursed scar.

Tonks was panicking now and had tears streaming down her face as she beheld the broken form of, what she now considered, her best male friend. She looked over at Fleur hoping she might be able to help out.

"We've got to help him!" She screamed. Fleur looked panicked herself; since this was the first time she had been forced to call upon her knowledge for a real life issue.

"Zere is a charm zat can stop ze bleeding." She exclaimed through her nervousness. Neither she nor Tonks took notice that her accent was back. "I vill need your 'elp to cast it though. My magic ees not strong enough."

"What do I need to do?" Tonks asked.

"Point your wand at 'is 'ead and say "_vigoratus_."

Tonks looked apprehensive but nodded her ascent when she thought about helping Harry.

"On three. One. Two. Three."

"_Vigoratus_!" Both women shouted. A bright blue beam of light shot out of their wands and connected with his scar, stopping the bleeding. Though as soon as the blue light faded, a bright white light erupted from his scar. The light was tinted slightly green and flew with amazing speed back towards the two ladies. As soon as the light impacted with Tonks and Fleur, both of them, as well as Harry fell into unconsciousness.

None of them were awake to see the arrival of one Albus Dumbledore, who had been awakened by the wards of Grimmauld Place announcing a huge magical discharge. The old man took in the three unconscious forms before moving them up into a large bedroom on the third floor and locking it so that none but he, himself, could enter. It would not due to expose others to them until he could learn what had occurred there that night.

Albus went back downstairs to clean up the blood stains on the floor. Apparently Harry had bitten a hole in his tongue and when he fell unconscious; his mouth opened and spilled a puddle of blood on the floor.

After the cleanup was complete, he headed into the kitchen where he floo called Poppy, Alastor, and the elder Weasley's. 'It's best not to worry anyone else for now.' He thought.


	4. Chapter 4

A/N: Thanks to Treck and Nedlin for checking these stories for me.

**Chapter 4: Aftermath**

Albus Dumbledore was seated in the sitting room at Grimmauld Place. The only occupants of the house being himself, Poppy, Alastor, and Molly and Arthur Weasley; not counting their unconscious friends. It was early in the morning, around 3:00 or so and Poppy still wasn't able to determine what had happened last night.

Albus wasn't worried about an external attack per se; he himself had set up the wards guarding Grimmauld Place. Even if someone was able to locate the house they could not have entered without disrupting his wards and the only thing that had happened inside or around Grimmauld Place was a huge magical backlash that started somewhere inside the house itself.

Poppy had been working on all three of them for five hours now and none of them had shown any change. They appeared to be healthy, with the exception of magical exhaustion, but that did little to explain the events of the evening. Even Mad Eye had not been able to determine the cause of the backlash as he sometimes can with his magical eye.

As it was now entering the early hours of the morning, he decided to send everyone home with the promise that what they had seen did not leave the house. He didn't want to alarm anyone to the, as of yet, unknown situation. They would act as if nothing out of the norm had occurred until there was a reason to do so.

All the while he kept his own opinions on the matter close at hand. He searched the area and found six magical signatures linked to the backlash. The first few were unsurprising, but the last three made him slightly nervous and at the same time slightly curious. The first three magical signatures belonged to: Mr. Potter, Miss Tonks, and Ms. Delacour. The last three were: Albus Dumbledore, Lily Potter, and Tom Riddle.

Section Break

Poppy Pomfrey had seen many things in her days as a healer. She had been a healer at one of the strongholds of the light, since the end of the war with Grindelwald and had been well into her career when Voldemort rose the first time. However, even with her fifty plus years of experience she was baffled by what had happened to two of her most frequent patients as well as her apprentice.

She suspected that Dumbledore knew more than he let on. The old man always knew more than he was willing to share. She only hoped that they would all be ok, but she trusted the headmaster enough to know that if there was something life threatening going on then he would have at least informed them of that.

Flipping close another useless tome she decided to give the headmaster a few days before demanding an explanation.

Section Break

Fleur groaned, feeling the beginnings of a major headache. She hadn't felt this bad since she found out she got her internship and got drunk on firewhiskey with some friends. She couldn't remember drinking anything, but the way she was feeling was eerily similar to a hangover. She shielded her eyes from the waning sunlight that was just filtering into the room through the dirt covered window.

The first thing she noticed, when her eyes adjusted to the light, was that she wasn't in her own room. She didn't even recognize the room she was in. It almost looked like a make-shift infirmary.

The next thing she noticed was her best friend and her up-and-coming friend on two beds similar to hers that were crammed into the small room. They both looked to be sleeping soundly, so she decided against bothering them.

She approached the door that had no handle before realizing that she didn't have her wand with her to try and open the door. She searched through both Harry and Tonks' things and found that both of their wands were missing as well. What the hell was going on? Were they captured and being held prisoner?

Sighing she sat down at the end of her bed and tried to think about the situation logically. They most likely weren't prisoners. Prisoners were locked in cells or dungeons, not surgically clean rooms. She pondered the situation for almost an hour before she got frustrated and started to pound on the door to the room.

Her pounding was interrupted by a groan from behind her. Startled that, after over an hour of silence in the small room, her friend was stirring, she walked over to Tonks' bedside just as she lifted her hand to block out the miniscule amount of light that still filtered into the room. After a minute or so, Tonks looked up at her friend questioningly and what she saw didn't reassure her.

Neither one of them could remember anything that happened leading up to their incarceration in the small room. The last thing that either of the really remembered was Harry's birthday party. Sighing together, and causing a small giggle at their similar thinking, they sat down and chatted much like they would any other day. They figured that there was no use in trying to get out of the room without their wands, so they would just have to wait and see what was going to happen. Hopefully someone would be around soon as it was almost dinner time and they were starting to get hungry.

Section Break

Albus Dumbledore returned to his office after a long discussion with Minister Fudge. He was on his way out as Minister of Magic. Too many failures to the general populace, most of which were unforgivable, had caused an overwhelming public call for his dismissal.

As soon as he arrived in his office he noticed that one of his silver instruments was whirling around giving off two puffs of smoke every few seconds. He immediately floo'd Poppy and asked her to meet him at Grimmauld Place.

He apparated right outside the secured door on the third floor and waved his wand to unlock it. The many locks clicked as the door swung open to reveal two highly agitated witches.

"What the hell is going on here, Albus?" Tonks shouted at her former headmaster and leader of the Order.

"Calm down Miss Tonks." Dumbledore soothed as he surveyed the room. "How are you two feeling?" He directed the question at both Tonks and Fleur.

"I 'ave a headache from hell, sir," Fleur said, before cursing herself as she realized she needed to reapply the charm to help her accent.

"Ms. Tonks?" Dumbledore turned his gaze back to her.

"Same here. It feels like I drained a keg by myself." At Dumbledore's dumbfounded expression she continued, "Muggle device that holds alcohol."

Dumbledore nodded his head in understanding.

"Now, would you mind telling us what's going on, and why we're being locked in a room with sleeping beauty over there?" Tonks jabbed a finger in Harry's direction.

Dumbledore switched his gaze back and forth between the two witches as if he was trying to read their minds; which in a way he was.

"What can the two of you tell me about young Mr. Potter after everyone left from the party?"

Tonks waited a second before answering. She didn't want Fleur to feel as though she wasn't apart of the conversation, but after a minute of waiting Tonks decided that Fleur was too embarrassed about her accent to continue on with a long conversation.

"Well, the three of us went into the sitting room to talk. Its something that we've been doing most of the summer," she added. "After that, I remember him clutching at his scar and writhing as if he were in pain."

Dumbledore listened to her account of the night and nodded. This was nothing he wasn't able to gleam from her mind as it was. He had less luck with Fleur's mind since magical creatures have an inherent ability to shield their minds, at least to some extent.

"Can either of you remember anything else?" He asked.

"I noticed that his scar started to bleed. Fleur said she had read about a healing charm that was supposed to stop massive blood loss but she said she wasn't powerful enough to cast it alone. So both of us cast the charm at the same time. I don't remember anything else happening after that." Tonks finished.

"Thank you, Ms. Tonks, Ms. Delacour. I must ask the both of you to not leave this room until further notice." He waved his wand and a door appeared in-between Harry and the women's beds. "You may use that restroom for the time being. Now I will leave you to the tender mercies of the healer waiting patiently outside the door." Dumbledore gave a small smile to the women and headed out of the door to allow Madam Pomfrey in to make sure they were healthy.

Madam Pomfrey gave them a few restorative potions and a mild pain reliever for the headache. She told them to take the restorative potions after they had dinner which was to be brought up soon.

"Poppy, why do we need these?" Tonks asked.

"You both have been unconscious for three and a half days now. Your bodies need the nourishment." She said with a curt nod before turning on her heel and walking out of the room, which left the two witches to their own devices for who knows how long.

Section Break

Severus Snape knew he was in for an extended bout of the cruciatus this evening. So far it had been four days since the brat's birthday and he hasn't been able to get any information out of the old man about him.

The Dark Lord claims that the connection has been severed, as he can no longer sense Harry's conscience mind. However, this news wasn't enough to make him happy. He wanted irrefutable evidence that the thorn in his side was dead once and for all. It was to be the job of his spy to gleam this information from the old man.

So he knew that his failure to gain the required knowledge would arouse his master's suspicion and cause himself an extreme amount of pain to prove his worth.

"What news do you bring, Severus?" Voldemort hissed. He sat on his makeshift throne in the once ancient and noble manor that Salazar Slytherin himself once owned.

"Forgive me master," Snape started and hurried up as he saw his master raising his wand in preparation for the bad news. "The old man will not divulge ANY information about the boy. I know that he was at the Order's headquarters that night but no one has seen him since then and Dumbledore diverts any conversation that may broach him as a subject of the conversation."

Voldemort was seething with rage. How was he supposed to achieve world domination when his plans were constantly thwarted by a geriatric and a snot nosed teenager. Not to mention the incompetent followers he was forced to use to accomplish the rudimentary tasks.

"Once again you have failed me Severus. I grow tired of showing you any lenience. If you fail me again Severus it will be the last time. Is that understood?"

Trembling slightly despite himself, Snape replied, "Yes, Master."

Voldemort raised his wand and pointed it directly at Snape. "For your failure this time. _Crucio_."

Section break

Albus Dumbledore sat alone in his office at Hogwarts pondering the bizarre events of the last few days. The magical signatures he detected in Grimmauld Place led him to a theory about what had happened after the celebrations ended. The only possible way that Lily Potter's signature could have been there was through scar on Harry's forehead. He had theorized long ago why the killing curse only marked Harry and did not kill him. He was partially responsible if his theory was true and as such he decided to withhold that information for the time being. No one knew the real reason that he was there for the birth of Harry Potter.

He would have to wait and see if his theories were correct. Harry needed to regain consciousness before they could fully understand what had occurred. He was also certain that the two young women who had been growing steadily closer to Mr. Potter over the last month would start to understand what was going on shortly. It would be better if they could make the conclusions on their own. It usually makes things more 'bearable' to slowly come to major changes in life in your own time; rather than have it thrown at you by somebody that, in Harry's case, you didn't completely trust anymore.

For now he would do as he always has. He would hold his tongue and play his cards close at hand. He would make sure that no word about Harry would be uttered until everything was certain. Even the inner circle of the Order would have to remain oblivious to certain things. He was starting to have a few doubts in some of their loyalties and now was certainly not the time to play into Tom's hand.

Section Break

"What do you think is going on? Why won't they let us out of the room?" Tonks asked her only, conscious, companion. It had been a week since the supposed accident and about four days since they had regained consciousness and they were still being held prisoner by their own leader.

"I do not know why ze headmaster is acting this way." Fleur answered.

"Is it just me or does it seem like he knows more than he's saying? Madam Pomfrey's the only other person that comes in the room except for Dumbledore himself and she was acting just as confused as both of us."

"What's he keeping from people now?" A new voice interrupted causing both of the women to jump slightly and in Tonks' case for her to fall out of her chair.

Both women were on Harry in a matter of seconds, trying to make sure that he was ok. He assured them that with the exception of a severe headache and hunger pains that he was quite fine.

"Would you care to answer my question now that I've answered the last twenty of yours?"

Fleur looked confused, "What question?"

Harry sighed trying not to sound annoyed at the two, "When I woke up, you two were saying that it seemed like Dumbledore knew something that he wasn't telling anyone else."

Tonks decided to take up answering the question since it would probably take a bit of explaining and Fleur still couldn't recast the charm on her voice.

"Well, it's been a week since your birthday."

"A week?" Harry shouted.

"Yes, now let me finish so you can get your answers. I don't know how much you remember, so I am going to explain everything that's happened that we can remember." The next hour and half was spent explaining everything that had occurred the night of his party and the resulting scenario. Harry had plenty of questions, just like the two women, and also just like them, he received no answers.

In order to have Madam Pomfrey come in and check on Harry now that he was awake, as well as to get some lunch, they pressed the 'panic' button, as Tonks so eloquently named, to alert the headmaster that they needed help.

Sometime in the next twenty minutes, Madam Pomfrey arrived at their room. She didn't appear the least bit surprised that Harry was awake. In fact, she wasn't surprised at all. When the headmaster had summoned her, it was almost as if he knew that the young man was awake or was going to awaken soon, so she had packed her bags accordingly.

She gave him the same potions as she had given both women, as well as conjuring a fairly large meal for the three of them to share. Just before leaving the room she made one final comment. "The headmaster claims that he will by to speak with you all tonight. I do not know what time he expects to get away from his duties, but he assures me that it will be tonight."

However none of them could know that the events of this night would cause a great many changes in not only the Order but the Wizarding world as a whole, and Dumbledore himself wouldn't make it to Grimmauld Place this night.

Section Break

Wormtail, aka Peter Pettigrew, scurried through the dirt filled streets of Hogsmeade trying his hardest to reach the massive castle that loomed in the background. He could make it to the castle much faster if he were to change into his human form, but that simply was not possible since it wouldn't do for a dead man to be seen walking freely through the streets of the small Wizarding community.

He approached the hollowed out house that he and his friends once used to seek refuge after their many pranks around the school. The shrieking shack was much the same as it was the last time he was in the house but now was not the time to reminisce on such things. He had a mission to accomplish.

Scurrying through the magically made tunnel that emptied out onto the grounds of Hogwarts, he hurried as fast as his rat legs would carry him. Once out onto the sacred ground of the magical institution, he transformed into his human self in the hopes of making the trip to his destination all the faster.

Approaching the massive wood doors, he was dismayed to discover them locked and barred and no matter what he tried he could not enter. Cursing his own bad luck even in a situation such as this, Peter transformed once more into his animagus form long enough to squeeze through a small hole in the wall before becoming human again.

The second he transformed, he almost wished he hadn't as he came face to face with a very angry caretaker, deputy headmistress, and charms master. The two non-squibs had their wands directed at Peter and Filch just sneered at him.

"What are you doing here Peter?" Minerva McGonagall asked, face to face with a man she thought to be dead for the first time in almost two decades.

Peter shivered at the coldness in her voice before reaching into his robes to pull something out. Immediately the wands were trained on his head as he slowly pulled out his wand from his robes and, surprisingly, tossed it to their feet. "I've come to turn myself in to Dumbledore."


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter 5: Repercussions

Albus Dumbledore couldn't quite understand how he ended up in the situation he was now in. It was certainly not the way he had thought this day would go but here he sat nevertheless staring at the face of his former student and Order member.

Wormtail had just finished offering all the information he had on Voldemort's current endeavors and what he wants to occur in the near future. It was now nearing midnight and he had been telling them information for over seven hours now.

"Why?" Dumbledore asked after Wormtail said that was all he had.

"Why?" Wormtail asked, showing that he wanted to know which part of the story he wanted more information about.

"Why did you turn yourself in?"

"I've ruined my life and the lives of the only ones that ever treated me as a friend. My actions have lead four of them to death. I betrayed the wizard debt that I owed to Harry by not warning you, or him, about Severus sooner. I-I have nothing else to live for. I don't want, deserve, to live anymore. I only hope that some of the information I've given you will be able to save some lives in the near future."

Dumbledore sat deep in thought while Minerva and Filius sat in chairs close by with their wands at ready in case Wormtail decided to make a run for it. Minerva had already taken the necessary steps to make sure that he couldn't transform anymore. While it was not a permanent solution, it did last for about a week.

"You realize, of course, that you will be questioned by the ministry and given the dementors kiss immediately, do you not?"

"Y-yes, sir." He mumbled.

"Minerva," Dumbledore turned toward the Gryffindor Head of House. "I would like you to make a visit and inform certain entities that I will not be able to make the meeting tonight."

Minerva nodded in understanding. Dumbledore couldn't come out and say that Harry was still alive when Wormtail thought him to be dead.

"Filius," Dumbledore addressed the short charms teacher. "If you would be so kind as to escort our friend here to the ministry while I inform the correct people of his 'return.'"

Filius nodded his agreement with the idea and bound Wormtail before levitating him towards the floo. They disappeared in a flash of green flames while Albus followed them to alert the Minister of Magic and the Head of Magical Law Enforcement.

OoO

Minerva McGonagall knocked on the door before entering. Regardless of the fact that they couldn't answer the door she thought it wise to announce herself before rushing in. After all there were two women and one young man in the room and while she didn't think that anything 'inappropriate' would be going on, though she had to admit that she remembered being young and some of the things she got into when she had nothing better to do, and they certainly had nothing better to do, being locked in a room for almost a week, she was being courteous anyways.

She slowly opened the door and entered the confined room. She was immediately met with unhappy glares from all three inhabitants. She sighed, mentally cursing Albus, and decided to just inform them of the meeting cancellation and move on.

"Albus won't be able to make the meeting tonight. Something rather…..unexpected occurred earlier this afternoon and he is still dealing with the situation. I would imagine that he will be busy most of tonight, well, this morning before the matter is taken care of.

"I am sorry to say that I cannot tell you what is going on right now but rest assured that Albus will be sure to go over all the information with you when he meets with you all, I assume, tomorrow."

She figured it was also best to just head off any questions they may have had before getting stuck in the room with them until Albus could get away from the Ministry.

The room's inhabitant, especially the females, were not at all amused at the delay of their meeting, but said nothing as Minerva backed out of the room and closed the door behind her.

OoO

Severus Snape was getting ready to return to Hogwarts. His summer mission now finished, he was ordered to return to his post and inform the Dark Lord of anything of significance that the old man gets around to doing.

He had just finished packing his bags from his month long stay at Gaunt Manor and was heading towards the apparition point the Dark Lord had created.

Nodding to the three guards stationed around the apparition center he strode confidently into the center before disappearing with a swirl of his cloak and a scowl at those watching.

OoO

Albus Dumbledore had just finished gathering all of the necessary individuals to carry out what needed to be done before morning. The Minister of Magic, Cornelius Fudge, Head of Magical Law Enforcement, Amelia Bones, and Senior Undersecretary to the Minister, Delores Umbridge were all gathered into the conference room. Just to be on the safe side he had also asked for Kingsley Shacklebolt and Hestia Jones, both working for the MLE division of the Ministry of Magic to be at the meeting as well. None of the invited guests had been made aware of the actual reason for the meeting; they were just told it was a matter of extreme urgency.

Dumbledore was getting ready to call in Filius and their 'guest' when he was hit with a message spell from Severus. He sighed internally at the thought that he was betrayed yet again by someone he thought could be trusted. Now he was facing the certain fact that he would be in the same room as both men at the same time for the first time since they attended Hogwarts together.

Ignoring the spluttering Minister of Magic, Dumbledore excused himself for a few minutes, to gather another attendee, and created a portkey to headquarters to await Severus' arrival.

Once he was at headquarters he set about making anti-apparition wards around the building to avoid any quick attempts to leave the area. Once they were set he floo'd Cynthia Edgecombe, in the floo regulatory office. She had been changed to night shift for some reason after her daughter's botched attempt to assist Fudge. He used his authority as, Chief Warlock of the Wizengamot, recently reinstated, to order the closure of all floo travel indefinitely starting in fifteen minutes.

Once he was certain that the area was secure enough to capture Severus, not that he doubting his own dueling abilities but never leave everything to chance, he sent a message spell to Severus to have him floo to headquarters immediately to debrief him of his month long mission. He tried to take notice away from the fact that he was to use floo by saying that recent events have caused anti-apparition wards to be added to the area around headquarters.

Satisfied with his work thus far, Albus settled into the chair across from the floo in the sitting room. Since he had a few moments free time before he expected Severus to arrive he sent another message spell to the three current prisoners in the third floor corner bedroom.

OoO

Harry, Tonks, and Fleur were just getting ready to sleep for the night. It had been about ten minutes since Minerva had left, and despite the amount of sleep all of them had had recently, they were quite tired and had no real reason to stay awake any longer.

They had turned out the light, one of the amenities they had been afforded so far, and were starting to drift off when three silver bolts of magic entered the room and each headed for an individual.

Harry, having never been told a message in this fashion before was skeptical to believe it, once he figured out that he wasn't gleaming more thoughts from Voldemort's mind.

"Its okay, Harry. Dumbledore derived some sort of message spell from the patronus charm. Only the members of the Order know how to do them."

Somewhat reassured Harry took the limited information in stride and drifted off once more. He was too tired to even be mad at the headmaster for not telling them anything useful. What good did it do them to know that they had a captured death eater? Sure that let them know _why_ he couldn't meet with them but it really didn't answer any of the questions that they had, nor did it reduce the amount of frustration the three captives still felt.

OoO

Severus Snape was not amused. He had just spent the last month locked in his lab at Gaunt Manor with no human contact. He had only made brief visits to apprise the Dark Lord of his status on his assignment. Now all he wanted to do was fall into his comfortable bed at Hogwarts and sleep until school began.

Of course, the reason he was not amused, was because the old man had asked him to report immediately to headquarters to debrief him on where he had been for the last month. He had had more than enough time to fabricate a story that would suffice but he didn't want to have to meet the headmaster now. He was tired and wasn't in the mood to act like he cared about Dumbledore's ideals.

He didn't care that he had to floo there. It wasn't all that surprising that they had added more wards to the house; in fact, he was amazed that it had taken this long to do it. He headed to the floo in his chambers at Hogwarts and set off to meet the old man.

He arrived in sooty mess. He was too busy clearing his robes of soot to notice the slight green flicker in the fireplace and Albus' body relax slightly.

"Good evening, headmaster," Snape said silkily. "I assume that you want to know my whereabouts for the last month?"

"Indeed, Severus, I would. Have a seat," Dumbledore gestured formally to the chair next to his.

Snape nodded curtly and sat in the offered chair. "Lemon drop?"

Snape declined to offered candy. Dumbledore didn't seem the least bit bothered by the refusal. He reached into his robes and extracted a bag of his sweets and set them in his lap so he would have easy access to them.

The meeting continued formally with Snape outlining his actions during July. Once the meeting was concluded, Dumbledore stood and Severus followed suit. Dumbledore bid him good night and started to move the bag of sweets back to his pocket. As soon as his hand was inside his pocket he let go of the bag and grabbed his wand. In one of the most fluid and precise displays of magic, the 160 year old man stunned, gagged, and bound the unsuspecting Death Eater before making a portkey to the ministry.

**A/N: Short, yes, but I'm getting back into my writing mood again.**


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